Pilates is often recommended for pregnant women, but what exactly are the benefits of Pilates during pregnancy?

Strengthen

Overall strengthening and toning are essential during pregnancy. Pilates can help to tone the whole body as a connected unit while taking into account the specific muscle groups that need a little extra love during pregnancy and postpartum. The benefits of Pilates during pregnancy include a healthy, balanced, core, a strong upper back to help posture, and balanced tone in the legs to support the low back.

Stretch

Stretching and lengthening your muscles is just as important as strengthening them. The benefits of Pilates during pregnancy strengthening and lengthening muscle groups at the same time. Many Pilates exercises work muscles in an extended position leading to long and toned muscles. However, that does not mean that your pregnant Pilates practice should leave specific stretching exercises out. Pilates for pregnancy focuses on stretching the inner thighs, hips, low back, and pelvic floor, as well as opening the chest. A word of caution, during the last trimester Relaxin levels, are high, which means that injuries from over stretching can occur.

Recover with same exercises

One of the significant benefits of Pilates during pregnancy is that the same exercises are used during pregnancy and recovery. This means that after learning your routine during your pregnancy, you can do these same exercises allowing reconnect with your body and take control of your recovery. Whenever you are ready after pregnancy (and have been cleared by a doctor), you can start your recovery right from your living room (or even your bed).

Helps common pregnancy symptoms like,

Edema – Edema is a swelling of the ankles. Pilates helps calm Edema by moving the muscles in the ankles and legs promoting blood flow.

Low back pain – Pilates will help you stretch your low back and open your hips while strengthening your glutes (booty) for added support.

Shortness of breath – As your pregnancy progresses, the baby begins to take up more and more space making it hard for your lungs to fill with air. One of the benefits of Pilates is the focus on the breath. Pilates during pregnancy should include learning how to breathe deeply to open and stretch the ribs and pelvic floor.

Diastasis Recti – Diastasis Recti is a splitting of the abdominal along the linea alba. It is common during pregnancy and can occur during labor. Pilates will teach you how to engage your deep core without straining it helping Diastasis Recti heal over time. If you are concerned that you have Diastasis Recti, I recommend looking for a Pilates Pre/Post Natal Specialist or Pelvic Floor Specialist in your area.

Tone the pelvic floor

Pilates helps to improve the tone of the pelvic floor through strengthen and stretching of the area. Your Pilates practice during pregnancy and recovery may even include pelvic floor release. This may seem counterintuitive, but when you release the pelvic floor for it helps the alignment of the group of muscles allowing them to engage with proper alignment when you strengthen them. You don’t just want a strong pelvic floor, but a supple, almost flexible one as well. You wouldn’t go for a run without stretching your legs; you shouldn’t expect for your pelvic floor to recover without the combination of strength and release.

Learn how to move comfortably during pregnancy

Pilates focuses on alignment; this translates to the benefit of Pilates during pregnancy because you will learn proper alignment in a variety of positions. Practicing movement in various positions will help you to get out of bed. Proper alignment throughout your pregnancy will help you keep pressure off of the low back, abdominal wall, and pelvic floor.

Where do I go from here…

Get to your mat with this Post Natal Pilates practice. Part 1 of the series is designed for mothers who are returning to the mat right after a doctor’s approval. Part 2 is for mother’s who are beginning to feel strong and centered and want to take it to the next level safely.

Learn more about your core, pelvic floor, and proper alignment in my Pilates Essentials course. This course includes a bonus 2-hour workshop called Pilates 101 – Breath and Core that will help you understand the fundamental movements that will get you back to your mat after pregnancy.

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Pilates strengthens the core in 3D.

In Pilates, we often work the spine in something called neutral spine or neutral pelvis. This means that the spine is at its optimal curvature, creating a small lift, about the size of a caterpillar, at your low back. A neutral spine is an important of using Pilates to get out of low back pain because it requires the stabilizing muscles in the spine to turn on during ab work. When the stabilizers become strong and know when to fire they will be more likely to turn on when we need them, like when we are walking, standing, or driving.

This a great beginner exercise for learning how to work your core in 3D:

This is something just a smidge more advanced for when you are ready to move forward with your practice:

2) Strengthens hips and glutes for a strong pedestal for the low back.

Our modern society is set up to weaken our glutes. We do so much sitting! When we sit the glutes (butt) turns off and the hips (especially the hip flexors) and quads turn on. We also tend to round the lower back when sitting for long periods (the opposite of neutral). All of this leads to a week pedestal for the low back. The hips and glutes should create a strong, balanced, surface for the low back to rest on. If this pedestal is weak or off balance the low back must work extra hard to stabilize around the sensitive sacroiliac (SI) joint, which can cause strain and a gripping sensation. Pilates helps to strengthen this pedestal in a balanced way.

This a great beginner exercise for learning how to strengthen the glutes and hips:

This is something just a smidge more advanced for when you are ready to move forward with your practice:

3) Pilates focuses on alignment and posture.

Pilates is known to help posture in general. In Pilates, we spend a lot of time on alignment and lengthening the spine, both of which may feel like they have little to do with low back pain. However, a long spine and good posture can help to take weight and pressure off of the low back.

Take a moment to play with this. If you are reading this on your phone or computer you are most likely hunched forward, shoulders rounded, with a hollow chest. Try reaching the crown of the head toward the ceiling as if you are suspended from there like a puppet while letting your shoulders relax and keeping your chin parallel to the floor. How does your low back feel compared to when you were slumped over at your desk? Less compressed? Lighter in general? Strengthening the muscles in the upper back needed for good posture helps to relieve the muscles in the low back.

This a great beginner exercise for learning how to extend the spine:

This is something just a smidge more advanced for when you are ready to move forward with your practice:

Total Body Tone Pilates is a series of Pilates workout videos will focus on the classic Pilates exercises. Total Body Tone is a beginner series designed to prepare you for the advanced work. Practice this series over and over and you will have what it takes to move on in the Pilates repertoire with ease.

Pilates is designed to be a practice. Something that we work at continuously, striving for, but never actually obtaining perfection. The videos in this series provide you with the stepping stones you need to create and progress in that practice. Perfect for the Pilates beginner Total Body Tone is a series of three Pilates practices that can be done together or separately, depending on what you have time for that day.

Each video contains a series of classic Pilates exercises that will further your practice as a whole. Through this Pilates practice, you will learn to connect with your entire body in new ways. Make this series a weekly practice to watch your skills develop and your muscles to tone uniformly for balanced muscle development.

Total Body Tone Pilates Part 1

This beginner Pilates workout focuses on stretching the body while working the core for a balanced Pilates practice.

You will do the following exercises:

All Fours Breath

Cat/Cow

Tail Wag

Upper Ab Curl

Marching

Hundred

Roll Downs

Rolling Like A Ball

Spine Stretch Forward

Chest Opener

Total Body Tone Pilates Part 2

Work the back and side body while getting a deep stretch for the back and hips. Perfect for those who have tight upper shoulders or know that they need to work on extension. Improve your posture with this quick workout.

What you will do in this video:

Spine Stretch Forward

Mermaid

Saw

Small Single Leg Circles

Baby Swan

Quad Stretch

Single Leg Kicks

Hip Sway

Total Body Tone Pilates Part 3

Build up your plank strength while working your arms and core in this all fours centered workout. Move the body through each move with the feeling of lifting and wrapping through your core to improve your stabilization.

Get ready to work your body with:

Sternum Drops

Opposite Arm/Leg Reach

Low Plank

Side-lying Legs Series

Half Plank Push Up

Child’s Pose

Love the series! Share the link with a friend. Got questions? Let me hear them in the comments. I’d love to help you understand your body on a deeper level through functional fitness.

My mother always puts a premium on a good bath experience. As a single parent she worked hard and the shower, or better yet bath, was a sacred space. One you could emerge from a new person. Our bathrooms were always small and cramped, but she had cheap tips for a spa experience in a blah bathroom.

My mother valued her showers, they were a luxury for her and she treated it as such, making her own products and sharing that knowledge with me. My mother set me up with a few library books and a trip to the local apothecary for herbs and essential oils. I would make masks, moisturizers, and dream pillows designed for relaxation. It has always been a fun, low pressure, way to be creative.

I wanted to use some of the skills that I have honed throughout my life to give you a simple, darn luxurious, at home luxury bath or shower experience… Let’s start with the space.

How to turn your blah bathroom into a spa experience:

So Fresh and So Clean – Clean your bathroom, even if you just cleaned it yesterday give the tub or shower floor a good scrub. Think about your eye line when you are in the tub. It’s a weird angle. Can you see areas that you might typically miss when you clean the tub? If so, clean it.

Set the Mood with Lighting – Get yourself some good mood lighting. You can use Christmas lights strung on the towel rack, candles, or a lamp with some tights over it (not touching don’t burn down your house) and pointed toward the wall.

Stay Hydrated – Get fancy and drink flavored water through a metal straw. I include a recipe for hydrating spa water below, but you could also drink coconut water.

Satisfy the Senses – Have some white noise or mellow music – Try these playlists on Apple Music, Ocean Sounds by Zen Sounds, Spring Moon Melodies, or Pure Yoga. Personalize your experience with your favorite playlist, but make sure it’s mellow and won’t draw you out of your experience.

Take Advantage of Aromatherapy – Use scent to convey the mood that you want. You can use candles or an essential oil diffuser. I recommend lavender for relaxation, pine for stress relief, or vanilla and jasmine to elevate your mood.

Go Big – Sprinkle rose petals in the bath, or buy that face mask that you’ve wanted to try, or pour yourself a glass of wine. Go big and by a cozy robe to wear after. There is nothing better than stepping into a cloud after bath or shower.

Stay Cozy – You don’t want to step out of your nice warm cocoon and into the Arctic of a cold bathroom. Stay cozy and heat your bathroom with a portable heater. Just make sure it doesn’t get too toasty.

Cover Your Toilet – There is one thing that you can change about your bathroom, and that is that your toilet is probably staring you right in the face. Not a great view. Cover your unsightly toilet with a nice neutral towel. Not the one you’ll be using to dry off.

Have Lots of Clean Towels – If you have read this far, you will know that clean towels of various sizes are a must.

If you do even just a few of the things from this extensive list, your bathroom experience will be elevated from bleh to yes, please.

On top of turning your shitty little bathroom here are some easy DIY natural remedies for your luxury bath or shower…

Hydrating Spa Water Recipe – This one is simple, add cucumber and lemon or cucumber and mint to your water. Let this naturally flavored water sit for at least an hour for max flavor potential.

Moisturizing Bath Oil Recipe – I debated whether to call this an oil because I have you put some oatmeal in it, but it’s still pretty oily. The oils will float on top of the water moisturizing the skin. It will also make the bath and your feet slippery so be careful!

¼ cup Jojoba Oil

5-10 drops Chamomile Essential Oil

5 drops Lavender Essential Oil

¼ cup oatmeal

Mix together in small bowl and add to bath.

Eye Tea – This is another simple one it can be done on the couch if you only have a shower. Take plain chamomile tea bags (no mint) and place them in warm (not boiling water), or straight into your bathtub. Let them steep for 1 minute, allow them to cool, and then place them on your eyes.

Oil Scalp Treatment for Dry Scalps – Oil Scalp treatments should be done up to once a week. They can leave your hair feeling a little greasy. There are a few things you can do to keep down the grease. Get your hair wet with warm water before adding the oil treatment. Only put oil on your scalp, it will make it to the ends as you wash it out. Wash your hair twice, and then condition as usual.

What is my morning ritual?

Each morning I wake up around 6:30 AM in a quiet blanket of coastal fog. The fog adds to the peacefulness of the morning. It makes me feel calm as I jump in the shower. If I have an early student at the studio I grab a coffee and a breakfast to go, getting my movement in later. I try not to berate myself for missing my morning ritual Pilates practice, but I know I function better from my brain to my booty if I get in a quick stretch sesh or light workout.

If I have a little more time a Pilates practice is guaranteed. As well as, a short time spent scrolling social media (let’s be real here) and a check in with my bullet journal. My bullet journal helps keep me centered with a gratitude practice and a list of daily tasks. When I do my morning rituals, rather than just jumping into work, I always have more stamina throughout my day.

This doesn’t mean that it is easy to maintain my ritual. Sometimes that blanket of fog and social feed is just too relaxing, and I miss my chance for my workout. On these mornings it can be easy to fall into a negative headspace. I can feel like I let myself down, or that I am lazy. When this happens, I use my shower, the anchor of my morning, to remind myself of all the things I got done the day before and of all the things that I still have time to do that day. Then I move on with my day.

Why is it important to have movement in your morning ritual?

I include movement in my morning ritual on top of my daily Pilates practice. It helps my body and brain function better throughout the day. The point of a morning practice is to warm up the body, not necessarily challenge it. Think a pleasant morning stroll (maybe with a cup of coffee) over a brisk run. It should be simple, fast, and something you can do without thinking too hard. That’s why I put together this specific Pilates practice for your morning ritual workout.

The Morning Ritual Pilates Practice video includes exercises to stretch the muscles, lengthen the spine, and warm up your body after a (hopefully) restful nights sleep. You can do it from your bed or your mat. It is perfect for coming into your morning slowly and welcoming your body to the day gently.

I’ve started Morning Ritual Pilates Practice with a full body stretch that you can do while lying on your back. Then rolled into spinal articulation with some Bridges. There is also a chance to wring out your spine and digestive system while stretching the low back with a T-Twist. The video continues with gentle movement for the whole body. All exercises can be done on your back or in a seated position so that you can do it comfortably from your bed or mat.

If you use your phone as an alarm, try starting your morning with this video rather than (or in addition to) your moring social scroll. Your body and mind will thank you.

I love sugar. If I am not careful, I become the kind of person that hides Skittles in her purse and carries Jolly Ranchers in my pockets. It’s a problem. That’s why I have to be acutely aware how much sugar I am eating. A treat or two can quickly turn into a full-on sugar binge. Once I get going, I find it very hard to start. That is because the more sugar we eat, the less we can taste it so the more we need to satisfy our taste buds.

Sugar addiction is a real thing. Serotonin is released when we eat sugar which is our feel-good chemical. The serotonin makes us feel good when we eat the sugar, but it also makes us irritable when we experience a sugar crash. Seratonin is one of the reasons we want more and more sugar. Once we enter this cycle of serotonin and over saturated tastebuds, it can be hard to break.

Luckily as someone who believes in moderation, I have lots of experience breaking the sugar craving cycle. I know that sometimes when those cravings hit, they hit hard. Here are my top five tips for stopping a sugar craving in its tracks:

Drink water – Or green juice. Or La Croix. Or tea. Water is always best, but sometimes that doesn’t stop the craving right that moment. As an alternative try La Croix or tea with a little fresh citrus juice squeezed in it. My favorite tea combination is chamomile and orange, instead of the traditional lemon.

Go for a walk – Sometimes when that sugar craving hits the best thing to do is switch up your environment. Try going for a walk.

Eat fruit with a side of protein – Try apple and nut butter or a fruit smoothie with protein powder. The combination of fruit (sugar) and protein will satisfy you and keep you full longer.

Is the treat near you? Throw it out!

Stretch or do a full-blown workout – Choose whichever one is going to make you feel good. You are looking for that serotonin boost, which happens when we eat sugar but also occurs after we move our bodies in pleasurable ways. Have you been sitting on the couch all day fighting a sugar craving? Get your body up and move!

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What Is A Word Of The Year?

For the last several years (4, I believe) I have chosen a word of the year. I can’t remember where this idea first came from, but I’m positive that I didn’t make it up. However, I loved it so much I ran with it making it my own. If the concept rings true to you I hope you do the same.

So, what is a Word Of The Year?

I use the Word Of The Year to set my intention for the year. I use it instead of goals or in combination with my goals. I find it helpful to have a solid intention behind my goals so that I know why I am doing them and to reevaluate my goals or create new ones throughout the year. My Word Of The Year helps me make sure that my goals will actually make me happy rather than simply reflect what society wants me to achieve. Often times when my goals have been accomplished or forgotten the Word Of The Year sticks with me to guide me to the year’s end.

Reflecting On 2017’s Word Of The Year

At the end of the year, I like to reflect on how the previous year’s word served me in order to help me choose a new Word Of The Year. After a chaotic couple of years, I chose structure as the Word Of The Year for 2017. For me, the concept of structure encompassed many words including routine, foundation, and growth. I would say that looking back the word foundation really stuck out for me as I struggled to keep a routine, but truly feel that I created a solid foundation in my home and business that will allow me to grow in 2018.

My word in 2017 permeated all areas of my life. It affected my relationship with my husband by forcing me to go back to the foundations of our relationship, focusing on just the two of us, on communication, and on supporting each other. Structure showed up in my home in the feeling that we have something semi-permanent after years of moving. Even though we have been living here for two years, it only started feeling permanent about 6 months ago. I think this is due to the influence my word had on how I treated my home. Having the word structure guide me through the year helped me to realize that in some ways my life had more structure than I thought and one of those areas was in my home. It only still felt chaotic because I hadn’t let go of my feelings (and fear) from the unstable moments in my life.

My Word Of The Year was harder to find in my work and self-care routines. In work I changed jobs… twice. The first time to find more structure, the second because I realized that I could create a better foundation following my vision on my own. I am now back at a small Pilates studio as an independent contractor. This makes me happy and at ease and also excited and nervous, which means I must be doing something right

My self-care routine was anything but, structured this past year as I struggled to find my personal routine in the chaos of my work. After filming videos, teaching IRL, and trying to stay on top of the hardcore workouts at my old job (a classic training center), I didn’t have time for my favorite forms of laid back, restorative self-care and movement.

My Word Of The Year For 2018

After reflecting on the positives and the negatives, as well as how my word changed over the year I came up with my Word Of The Year for 2018. This year my word is more about how I want to feel then what I want to accomplish. It is also directly related to the stress and anxiety I am feeling from current events. My Word Of The Year for 2018 is PEACE.

I chose the word “peace” because I want more peace in the world, more peace of mind, more peace in my marriage, and more peace with what I accomplish and what I don’t. I want to follow my peace this year. Peace comes with several support words including, vulnerability, self-love, understanding, calm, and acceptance.

I am not making any specific goals this year, but I did spend some time brainstorming and visualizing how peace can show up in my life this year (mostly in the shower, if I am being honest).

I will allow peace to show up in my relationships, including my marriage. I feel that last year I let many of my relationships fall to the wayside in order to find structure and financial success. This has been nagging at me. This year I am going to find peace in my relationships by showing up for them from my heart, not a place of obligation. In my marriage, I will strive to keep peace through communication, understanding, and the art of compromise.

I will allow peace to show up in my work by following my heart and my vision, by accepting (and preparing for) the ebb and flow that is my work, and by keeping my eye on my own mat… er biz. I will work on being more vulnerable on social media, showing more of my true, raw, self.

I will allow peace into my heart through gentle self-care, self-love, and by turning off the negative voice in my head. I will not stress over my intentions but, use them as a tool for peace. In 2018 I intend to add more journaling, more reading, more spirituality, and more creativity into my self-care… and Pilates, of course.

I will bring peace into the world by taking action for what I believe in by volunteering, donating, and speaking up. I will strive to share love through open communication and understanding.

I will allow peace into my life by not overwhelming myself and remembering to ask myself, “will this bring me and/or others peace?”

How To Choose A Word Of The Year

I don’t have a specific set of steps for finding your Word Of The Year as I feel that the process is a little different for everyone. Honestly my word just kinda comes to me after some reflection on the past year and some time spent thinking about how I want to feel or accomplish in the year to come. This being said here are some journaling questions that you might be able to use to guide you. Don’t rush through these questions. It won’t help. I recommend reading through them once and ruminating on them for at least few hours (maybe during your shower and then actually taking pen to paper to write down your thoughts. I’ve included these questions in a downloadable worksheet to make it easy for you to print and partake.

Reflection

What were the highlights of the past year?

How did you Word Of The Year show up for you last year?

What was the vibe of 2017?

Was there anything that you would have changed about 2017?

What do you want to take with you from 2018?

Desires

What do you want the vibe of 2018 to be?

What do you want to accomplish?

How do you want to feel?

What was missing from your life in 2017? What would you like more of in 2018?

How will your word show up in different areas of your life (home, work, relationships, etc)?

It’s a long year, write your word somewhere where it will inspire you daily.

Also don’t be afraid to change your word if it doesn’t serve you. Some change quarterly some at the 6-month mark. The only constant is change, don’t fight it.

I hope that this new year welcomes you with open arms and that your Word Of The Year guides you like a shining light.

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When I first started doing Pilates I was uncomfortable in my own body. I was 24 and I think most people would have told you that I was pretty confident. I liked to go dancing, I traveled the world, and I worked at one of the hottest bars in town. The thing is, I didn’t feel confident. I felt like when I was out in the world I was wearing a mask of confidence, not feeling my confidence coming from the inside. This was draining and unsustainable.

It was around this time that I started noticing myself getting slightly winded during hikes I did often. I started feeling physically uncomfortable in my own body. This affected my confidence. I still liked the way that I looked, but I wanted to actually feel as good as I looked.

So, I started playing around with fitness. I tried body conditioning with an 80-year-old ex-football coach, I tried step aerobics with a friendly woman in her 30s, and I tried to be bendy in yoga. Then I tried Pilates and I loved it. I felt great after my first class. I felt centered in my body, stretched out, and I was pleasantly sore, but I could still move the next day. So I went back.

Before Pilates, I thought that women worked out to fit a certain mold. I thought that they worked out to be a certain clothing size, to look like models in a magazine, or because they were striving for that thigh gap that the media is always telling you that you need (I can remember starting to think about thigh gaps at 12). I thought that women worked out because they hated their bodies. Now I know that many women who enjoy working out do it because they love their bodies and they love how they feel through fitness.

I thought that resisting working out proved that I loved my body the way it was. I thought that it was an act of rebellion in a world that told women how to behave. I thought that it made me stronger. Yup, I thought that not working out made me a stronger person because it meant that I was standing up to a message programmed in me since childhood. What!?!?

Over time I have learned that this just simply isn’t true. Well, we do have messages that promote self-esteem issues in women (and men) throughout our lives, but it isn’t true that by working out you are buying into this message. I work out because it feels good plain and simple.

Pilates helped me understand this. I had excellent teachers that focused on movement and form with such detail that there was no room left for vanity or body issues. This was about living our lives as our best selves and I could get behind that.

Pilates changed the way I felt in my own body, both physically and mentally. It gave me more confidence and ease when I walked through a room, up a mountain, or onto that dance floor. It made it easier for me to go to sleep at night pain-free. It connected me to my body and made me feel in control again. That is why I decided to become a Pilates instructor. I knew that there was a need in the world for more teachers who taught that movement is self-love, self-care, and is for feeling good in your own body.

If this sounds like what you are looking for in a Pilates instructor you should check out my free Pop-Up Pilates classes on Facebook. Invitations for these live 30 minute classes are sent to your inbox up to 3 days in advance along with a replay shortly after. Sign up to receive your free invitation.

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I started out my professional life first as a busser than as a waitress in a high-end fast paced restaurant. At one point in my life, I worked 6 days a week, with the random double thrown in, on the regular and, boy, did my body feel it. I felt my work in, my feet, in my hips, and in my neck and shoulders. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to help myself so I just bared the pain, until I ended up injuring my shoulder, which led me to Pilates.

Pilates helped me heal from an injury, but it also could have helped me prevent the injury in the first place. These two videos focus on strengthening and releasing the muscles used in the most common movements during your shift, standing/walking, carrying and setting down plates, and bending over tables to take orders. These exercises were chosen to help get you out of common patterns and misalignments and into the right muscles.

This first video is designed to be done at work, before your shift, during a slow moment, or in place your cigarette break.

This video is designed to be done before or after work. It starts with a lengthy foot rolling session that works as a great massage without even having to touch your feet (or enroll your husband).

]]>https://createmovepilates.com/pilates-for-work-waitresses-waiters-servers/feed/05 Tips for Finding Time In Your Day For Self-Carehttps://createmovepilates.com/find-time-for-self-care/
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1. Schedule It!

I know that in my busy life that if I don’t schedule it, it won’t happen. That goes for grocery shopping, dentist appointments, meetups with friends, and my self-care time. I like to schedule self-care in the form of fitness classes, walks with friends, and hour-long chunks of time where I can focus on myself (usually by sewing, a tarot reading, or a face mask). Some of these things take thought and prep so if I didn’t schedule them they may never happen.

I keep my scheduling loose as to not add more stress. I have a weekly planner pad that is split into days, on Sunday nights I sit down with my pad and write meetings and daily tasks I would like to accomplish each day. This is when I schedule in my self-care. For me, it works to plan around my existing schedule rather than be rigid about when my self-care has to happen every week.

2. Create a ritual

Are you a spontaneous pixie? Does sitting down and planning out your week sound like the opposite of self-care? You may want to practice your self-care in the form of daily rituals. Starting a ritual can be hard, but rewarding, but if you truly love your self-care (see tip #3) it won’t feel like a chore, but a ceremony.

Most self-care rituals occur in the morning or evening, but you can choose whatever time you like. I recommend that you tie your ritual to something that you always do like brushing your teeth. Some great ideas for daily self-care rituals include drawing a card from your favorite spiritual deck, meditating, a stretching sequence, affirmations, or journaling.

3. Find something you love

I mentioned this briefly earlier, but finding self-care that you love is super important. If you are forcing yourself to do something every day because you should, or because someone else told you to, that is not self-care. It doesn’t mean that those things aren’t necessary, but they don’t qualify as your self-care time. When you finish with self-care you should feel better than when you started, not like another chore has been checked off a list (even if you do plan it on your weekly to-do list). So, play around, switch it up, maybe Pilates is the perfect form of self-care for you, but maybe you really need 10 minutes of singing along at the top of your lungs to your favorite tunes every day to really feel alive. You do you.

4. Find an accountability partner

Sometimes it’s not about finding the time for self-care, but about making sure that you use your time for self-care instead of stressing on your to-do list or zoning out on your phone (see #5). This is when an accountability partner can be a big help.

We all know that everything is more fun with a friend, which is one reason an accountability buddy can be helpful, it just makes everything more fun. There are a couple different ways to use an accountability partner to stay find time for self-care. First, you can make a plan to meet up with them in person. Do this a couple days in advance or have a weekly meetup time so that you actually have to call to cancel. Trust me, just this little bit of pressure paired with the reward of seeing your friend if you go will help motivate you. The other way your buddy can help keep you accountable is through texts. Daily check-ins can be a huge motivator for starting a self-care ritual. If you a planner, share your self-care plan ahead of time and check in that day to make sure that it happened. This doesn’t have to be a big deal, if you’re busy you can simply communicate through a few emojis, it’s definitely the thought that counts.

5. Put your phone down!

Last, but not least. Put the phone down! I know from experience that it is easy to lose your time for self-care to the addictive glow of that little screen. Make sure that you are removing it from the equation. I know easier said than done right? Our lives are on those little buggers.

If you are creating a ritual it can be helpful to plan to do it before you’ve started or after you’ve stopped for the day. You can also use a habit on your phone as the task you tie your self-care ritual to. For example, when you finish checking your email in the morning you know it is time to put the phone down and start self-care (limit how long you spend on email for the best result).

If you plan your self-care time weekly and feel like you are loosing your self-care time to your phone try and choose a specific time for self-care, even if you decide just that morning. Set an alarm and when it goes off put your phone down. You can also use the alarm to time how long you are on your phone, hopefully no more than 10 minutes and then set it down. It’s time for self-care, and you love your self-care.